Andy Stoll left Iowa City ready to conquer the world.

Or at least Omaha.

But shortly after Stoll arrived, the 2003 University of Iowa graduate soon realized what he was looking for wasn’t there.

He was looking for Iowa City.

“Iowa City is a very equitable community,” he said. “You could sit down in a coffee shop and have the world’s foremost Russian writer on your right and the world’s finest brain surgeon on your left.

“I think I’ve always been a pragmatic idealist. I needed a community that supported that mindset, and the corridor is that place.”

Stoll’s resume shows he means business. He served as UI student body   president and vice president, received numerous academic awards and has worked on various community and UI projects.

But the James Gang is Stoll’s proudest accomplishment.

Before he graduated, Stoll and a group of friends formed the James Gang in 2002. The Gang is an Iowa City-based nonprofit “community building group” that has spearheaded or collaborated on several projects including the 10,000 Hours Show, Saturday Night Movie Series and Exodus Music Festival.

In December, the Press-Citizen named the James Gang the 2005 Persons of the Year. The Gang seeks to bring people together and functions under the basic tenet: Instead of just sitting around and talking about doing something, go out and do it.

“I think the success of the James Gang is a testament to that principle — that you can make an impact as a young person with relatively limited barriers of entry,” Stoll said. “I don’t think the James Gang would have been as successful in too many other places.”

The James Gang has grown to include more than 150 volunteer members under the direction of an eight-member board. Some 75 people volunteer year-round as staff for the 10,000 Hours Show; 95 percent of the 10,000 Hours Show staff is 25 or younger.

Stoll said there’s really only one direction the James Gang can go. Up.

“The big thing we’re really working on is finding ways to make the organization sustainable in the long run … to find ways to uncover the next great idea for a project and get more people involved.”

— Mike McWilliams

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